Halo: Freeman Evolved
by Hidden Mantis
Summary: What would happen when a freak slipspace accident sends John-117 to Black Mesa? And what if Gordon Freeman was launched to the future when the Resonance Cascade occurred? Rated-T for violence, language and suggestive themes.
1. Beginning

Legal disclaimer:

I do not own Sierra, Valve, Half-life, Bungie, Gearbox, Microsoft and/or Halo and other related companies whatsoever. I wish I did, anyway.

**Halo: Freeman Evolved**

* * *

Date: Sometime during 2002

It was a regular day at the Black Mesa Research Facility, New Mexico, as the lowly scientist, Gordon Freeman, sat on the tram awaiting its final stop at the Anomalous Materials center. The constant droning of the PA system wasn't so bad for the early part of the day. He'd been called to the building; someone found a pure source of a new material they've been testing on, and Black Mesa needed analysis. He pushed his glasses up. _A typical day at work_, he thought.

* * *

Date: August 30, 2552

"Jump to Slipspace, Ensign Lovell," Captain Keyes said. "Get us the hell out of here." The _Pillar of Autumn_ started up its Shaw-Fujikawa Slipspace drive engines. A tall man donned in green battle armor started to get in a large tube, a Cryo chamber. That man was the Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, a genetically upgraded human, a product of the Spartan II project. He had to enter the tube. Standard UNSC protocol required it. During Slipspace jumps, who knows what would happen to your body's systems. A human colony, Reach, had just been invaded by an alien presence known as the Covenant. The Chief can only imagine what happened, the enormous Covenant ships glassing the planet until it was just a large, smoldering rock.

* * *

"Morning, Mr. Freeman," said Barney, the security guard. "Looks like you're running late." Gordon just stood up and waited for Barney to open the tram doors. He walked out the tram and into Sector C test labs, just as soon as the guard opened the set of doors leading into the building. "Catch you later; I'll buy you a beer," Barney said before Gordon went through the huge, metal doors.

* * *

Everything started getting cold for the Chief. The Cryo chamber pushed him into a deep sleep, until he was ready to fight again. Spartans were made for combat on solid ground. He couldn't wait until he was back on terrain, a place where he could rely on himself and feel safe, not in a ship, in the confines of space.

* * *

Gordon opened the chamber that housed his HEV suit, or Hazardous Environment suit. Stripping off his lab coat and donning on the HEV, a voice suddenly chimed from his chest. "Welcome, to the HEV Mark IV Protective System. For use in hazardous environment conditions," it said, a disembodied woman's voice. He picked up a battery from his locker and powered his suit up a bit. "Power up to 15," the voice said again.  
Gordon walked down the hallways leading to the test chamber. Before entering the chamber, a machine suddenly exploded. Two scientists rushed in to check the damage. "What the hell is going on with our equipment?" one scientist blurted out. Gordon shrugged it off, but he had a bad feeling about what was going to happen today.  
He went down the final elevator to enter the testing center. Another hallway and he reached his destination. Entering the final chamber he meets two scientists who have the clearances to let him in the test chamber.  
"I'm afraid we'll be deviating a bit from standard analysis procedures today, Gordon," said the first scientist.  
"Yes, but with good reason," said the other. "This is a rare opportunity for us. This is the purest sample we've seen yet."  
"And potentially, the most unstable," the first one added.  
"Now, now, if we follow standard insertion procedures, everything will be fine."  
"I don't know how you can say that, although I will admit that the possibility of a resonance cascade scenario is extremely unlike-."  
"Gordon doesn't need to hear all this; he's a highly trained professional. We've assured the administrator that nothing will go wrong."  
"Ah, yes. You're right," says the first one. "Gordon, we have complete confidence in you."  
"Well, go ahead. Let's let him in now."  
Both scientists walked to their respective retinal scanners to open the final door. Gordon entered the test chamber. There was a huge machine in the ceiling that looked like it could shoot lasers that dig through the earth. The screech of feedback suddenly hit Freeman's ears. "Testing. Testing," a voice said from the speakers above. "Everything seems to be in order."  
"Alright Gordon, your suit should keep you comfortable through all this," a second voice said. "The specimen will be delivered to you in a few moments. If you would be so good as to climb up and start the rotors, we can bring the anti-mass spectrometer to 80 and keep it there until the carrier arrives."  
Gordon looked to his right and saw a ladder that went almost near the ceiling of the test chamber. He started his ascent and flicked the switch to start the anti-mass spectrometer. The huge machine started humming, its rotors whirring and spinning.  
"Very good," said the second voice. "We'll take it from here." The machine started emitting a thin laser. After a moment, three other lasers joined with the central one.  
"Gordon, we cannot predict how long this system can operate in this level, nor how long the readings will take. Please work as quickly as you can."  
"Overhead capacitors to one-oh-five percent," said the first scientist at the intercom. "Uh, it's probably not a problem… probably, but I'm showing discrepancy in… well, no. It's well within acceptable bounds again. Sustaining sequence."  
"I've just been informed that the sample is ready, Gordon. It should be coming up to you any moment now," the second scientist said. "Look to the delivery system for the specimen."  
At this signal, Gordon walked toward the little machine that rose from the ground, handling a little crystal. He pushed the cart toward the laser. The moment the beam touched the specimen, electricity surged from the union. Everything shook from the force of the reaction.

* * *

Cortana, the ship-borne AI was all alone in the _Pillar of Autumn_, well, not exactly alone. The _Autumn's_ crew was there, but they were all in Cryogenic sleep. She pondered upon where the coordinates for their "random jump" would send them to. It wasn't a random jump, actually. The coordinates Cortana received were from a rock piece that the Master Chief retrieved from Sigma Octanus. There were markings all over the crystal that looked like coordinates to somewhere in the galaxy. She hoped that these were the coordinates to an important Covenant planet of some sort. It was a long shot, but it might be worth it.  
A Covenant ship suddenly passed by them. _Wait a minute,_ Cortana thought. _We're in slipspace. The Covenant can't possibly outrun us in light-speed!_ Luckily, it was just a scout and passed by them. Un-luckily, it caused a slight slipspace storm right in the _Pillar of Autumn_, right in Cryo Bay Two. Right were the Master Chief was. Green electricity surged in the Cryo chamber, and suddenly, the Chief wasn't there.

* * *

"Gordon, get away from the beac—."  
"Shutting down - no! Attempted shutdown. It's not… it's not shutting down! It's not—." An arc of electricity suddenly shot through the scientists' observation deck. "Ahh!" was all that got through the intercom. More explosions rocked the spectrometer. Debris were falling everywhere. Green electricity surged and touched the room's walls, barely missing Gordon. A large concentration of the green energy stayed floating where the once straight beams were now moving erratically. Particles of green energy started collecting near the crystal. The last thing Gordon saw after that was a green flashing surge of energy and then, darkness.

* * *

**Hidden Mantis: **How'd you guys like the first chapter? I'm just a first-time writer, so forgive me if you've seen any mistakes. Instead, post comments so I can make things better!

Like the title says, Halo: Gordon Evolved, this story will focus more on Mr. Freeman, not Spartan-117. But don't get me wrong. I'd prefer a story with John any day.

In future chapters, I will make amends to both games' weapon systems to make them more realistic and believable.

It seems the idea for a Half-life Halo mix-up isn't original. I hope no-one would think "this is an unoriginal piece of #!", 'cause I'm going to try and make it as original as I can and describing every single event as in-depth as I can. Thanks, and no flames, please. :D

**P.S.**

If someone is willing to give free gaming rigs, I would love to receive one. Or an Xbox 360. Or a PS3.

**Edit:**

God was I a shitty writer back then. I had to spruce everything up and play around with a few lines.


	2. Aftermath

Date: August 30, 2552

Cortana noticed something wrong. Everyone was on Cryogenic sleep, but a blip on her sensors monitoring the crew disappeared. In the confines of Cryo Bay Two, their precious human cargo disappeared. Instead, an unidentified creature replaced the Master Chief.  
_Hmm…He seems to be human_, Cortana thought as she monitored vital signs from Cryo Two. _Doesn't have a neural implant, but he can't be a rebel. It's impossible for anyone to enter or exit the ship in the middle of a slipspace jump._ Cortana examined the specimen.  
He appeared to be approximately 20-25 years old, had a short, rugged beard, brown hair, green eyes and, from the shape of his eyes and his apparent eye-ware, seemed to be short-sighted. What she found out next was pretty surprising: he had a suit on, which wasn't normal UNSC protocol. All UNSC personnel should've removed their clothing before entering any Cryo tubes. It didn't seem to be a normal suit, though. It appeared to be a crude protective power suit of some kind.  
It was weakly charged, carrying only 15 of its full power. After a quick survey, she found out that it had an HUD that monitored vital signs, suit power, and weapon support in the form of a reticule and ammunition counters, a flashlight, and could be attached with a helmet. It was better at protecting its wearer than standard Marine armor, but weaker than the Mjolnir Mark V armor, the armor specifically designed for Spartans.  
The Mjolnir Mark V was a highly sophisticated piece of equipment. It had automatic recharging shield technology "borrowed" from the Covenant, an HUD that also monitored vital signs, shield power and provided weapons support in the form of a reticule and ammunition counters, and also sports hydrostatic gel that protects the wearer from heat, cold, pressure and regulates temperature. What gave the Mjolnir its edge was that it could amplify its wearer's physical power. Spartans are the only ones that could don the armor, since regular humans who wore the armor and lack the training and physical augmentations received severe injury and/or death.  
Cortana wondered how this human obtained such a piece sophisticated equipment. Previous Mjolnir armor models required a fusion generator attached to it, while this armor required none. _We'll find out soon enough, _Cortana said to herself. _As soon as we return to normal space, I'll let the marines interrogate him._

* * *

Date: Sometime during 2002

An alarm woke up the Master Chief. John-117 was sprawled on the ground. He felt like a Warthog, a UNSC off-road vehicle, hit him.  
Uncertain but remaining calm, he slowly rose up and surveyed his surroundings. He was in a large room that sustained heavy damage, almost as if a storm hit the inside. The remains of a huge machine hung loosely in the middle of the room. Debris were rising and falling as if there wasn't any gravity in the room, but he was standing firmly on his feet.  
A blast door was partially open and damaged. The Chief jumped through and saw a dead civilian. A scientist.

* * *

Date: September 29, 2552

It was a few more hours before the _Autumn_ returned to normal space. Cortana started thawing the bridge crew.  
"Captain Keyes, wake up sir," Cortana said. "We will enter normal space in three hours."  
Keyes sat up in the Cryo tube. He licked his lips and gagged.  
"I hate that stuff."  
"The inhalant surfactant is highly nutritious, sir," Cortana replied. "Please regurgitate and swallow the protein complex."  
Captain Keyes started to get out of the tube and spat clear mucus onto the deck. "You wouldn't say that, Cortana, if you ever tasted that stuff."  
The Cryo inhalant was designed to be regurgitated and swallowed, replacing nutrients lost in deep space sleep. But, no matter how much they changed the formula, it always tasted like lime-flavored mucus.

* * *

John saw another door, but this one was locked. A damaged retinal scanner hung from the wall. Another one was behind him and seemed operational. Using his strength, Master Chief pulled the metal door to the side. He saw a scientist administering CPR to a security guard. But they weren't crew of the _Pillar of Autumn_. There was something terribly wrong with where he was. He wasn't on the _Autumn_.

* * *

"Sir, there seems to be a problem. Part of our crew is missing," Cortana finally broke the news to Captain Keyes.  
"Wha-? What do you mean, Cortana?"  
"The Chief, sir. He's gone." Her tone was a-matter-of-fact, almost cold.  
"Gone, Cortana? Gone where?"  
"He's not here, sir. Not in a 10 kilometer radius. I've searched for his neural implant signatures, but they're not there."  
"What do you mean he's not here?" Captain Keyes asked, still finding the news incredulous. "Do you suggest he just _waltzed_ out of the _Autumn_?"  
"No, sir," Cortana replied. "Someone replaced him, though. It looks like we have a stow-away. Don't worry, sir. He's human."  
"How?" he inquired, more concerned about the manner the stowaway got in instead of who it was. "No one could've gotten in the ship in the middle of a slipspace jump!"  
"Well, this one got in. And I'm not taking chances. We'd better ask him some questions, sir. And we'd better thaw everybody else out. I'm expecting the Covenant to reach us sooner or later."  
Cortana started to wake everyone in the ship, starting with the crew. Everybody was in their posts, but Cortana didn't want to inform them about the newcomer. She didn't want to give these people the stress, and they were already stressed out as they are.  
Cortana started to thaw out Sergeant Avery J. Johnson. She would need him to interrogate this newcomer.

* * *

Dr. Jim Fabio felt like the world was going to end. There he was, performing CPR on a security guard, trying to save the man's life, surrounded by darkness, fire, and brimstone. He felt like quitting on Frederic's life.  
Suddenly, Fred sputtered and started breathing heavily. He sat up and coughed hard for a couple of minutes, rested himself on a wall behind him and tried to remember what happened. Jim heaved a sigh of relief as his coworker sputtered back to life.  
"Guahh!" A figure suddenly appeared in front of Jim, a tall, green metal man. It pretty much resembling half-Greek god, half-titan, but it didn't look anything like a human.  
"No! Get away from me!" Jim pushed himself farther from the figure. Fred was too tired to move at all, but he started to feel the fear Jim was feeling after seeing the tall creature.  
"Easy, now. I'm a friend," said a rasping voice reverberating from the green armor. "My name is John." _It would be best if I use my civilian name_, the Master Chief thought. "May I know what your names are?"  
In his attempts to blink away his fear, the scientist finally got a clearer view. The monster was, in fact, a seven foot tall man wearing dull-green armor. Reluctant and stammering, still slightly twitchy, Jim gave his name.  
"I'm J-James Fabio of the Black M-Mesa Research Facility."  
"Frederic Anderson," sputtered the security guard immediately, though no one asked for his name.  
_Frederic_…  
John suddenly remembered a cohort fighting for his life in Reach. A man who is practically his brother. The Master Chief wondered how Fred was doing, and if he was still alive.

* * *

In the darkness of the cryo bay, a black marine clamored from his hibernation unit and groggily went to the uniforms locker. He shook away the effects of cryo sleep, already used to the disorientation. After getting frozen, all he wanted to do was get back in the ground and kick Covenant ass.  
Suddenly, a disembodied female voice from the intercom contacted him. "Sergeant Avery Johnson, report to the bridge, ASAP. We have some uninvited guests that need attending to."  
"I hope it's the Covenant, 'cause I'm sure I'd enjoy every single moment if it were them," Johnson said to himself.

* * *

"Umm… sir?"  
"Oh, sorry Jim. Where are we?"  
"I-I'm not supposed to say that. Classified information, you see."  
Classified information. That was one way to put it. Another accurate depiction would be "Ghost Project". But despite the mum's-the-word secrecy he was supposed to maintain, Jim looked around. He saw death and destruction everywhere in the underground facility, so it was practically useless to not give information now.  
"We're in Black Mesa, New Mexico," Jim finally answered.  
"New Mexico? You mean we're on Earth?" The Chief needed to make sure he wasn't hearing things.  
"What do you mean, sir? Of course we're on Earth."  
The Master Chief had an odd feeling. He felt like he should ask a question, but it was really impractical to ask. As the quiet rolled on, though, John finally cracked and let his gut feeling take over him.  
"What's the date today?"  
"Let's see…" Jim replied. "The last time I checked the calendar in the scientist's quarters, it's probably May 2002."  
"2002?" asked John in a calm voice to mask his disbelief.  
"Yes, that's right. 2002."

* * *

The cryo tube housing the stowaway was surrounded by three Marines, with Sergeant Johnson at the symmetrical center. Each Marine held an MA5B Assault Rifle and pointed it towards the frozen chamber. Samuel Marcus, a third class tech officer, initiated the waking sequence from the cryo bay's control room.  
Gordon realized that he was cold. His body felt numb. He thought he dreamt that the test laser disintegrated and his fellow scientists died with the resulting explosions. He saw nothing, nothing but blackness.  
Suddenly, he noticed light coming from outside the chamber. Gordon wondered why he was _in_ a chamber in the first place.  
His vision was blurry, but it was unmistakable. He saw people in military green khakis surrounding where he was held. Smokey wisps clouded his eyes. Was he in a prison?  
"Hey, the chamber's opening," Private Wallace A. Jenkins announced. All the Marines detached their safeties and pointed all assault rifles at the entrance, careful not to accidentally kill the man inside.  
Gordon Freeman watched as the men outside the rising door pointed their guns at him. Fear gripped him, but a battered body didn't let him run. Immediately after reaching 41°F, his suit hummed with slight power. "Initiating medical treatment."  
"Ow, that's gotta hurt," said Private Manuel Mendoza. "He's wearing something in the tube! That's probably gonna sting hard."  
Tech officer Sam knew the feeling. He once got in a cryo chamber with nothing on but a band-aid on a small patch of skin, and when he got out, it was all raw and blistered.

* * *

John was slowly being enveloped in panic and confusion, but he forced himself to act calm.  
"From where I was, it's the year 2552, half a millennium from where we are now."  
"What? Is that even true?" Fred sputtered weakly.  
"It could be possible, deviating from what happened now…"  
"What do you mean, Jim?" Master Chief asked.  
"You see, there was a resonance cascade moments ago. You do know what a resonance cascade is, right?"  
Spartans are the ultimate warriors made by the UNSC. They aren't just strong and courageous, they're intelligent, too. As children at age 6, they were trained like adults and were taught all there is to know in the fields of math, science, language, and even more.  
"Yes, though the theory is not really accepted in our point in time. We have slipspace."  
"Slipspace travel, eh? Well, the resonance cascade did something similar, but it played mostly with time, less with space."  
"I see." The Chief was glad that his calm demeanor caught on with the civilians. "I'm going to have to help you guys out of this place," he said, knowing that this was probably a good first step to help some needy people in a different date.  
"We should probably b-be careful. There might be m-more than just you that got through the portals that were made during the c-cascade," Jim informs John.  
"Thanks," said the raspy voice the last time before he walked toward the hallways.  
Fred was bewildered. He thought this stuff couldn't happen in real life, only in sci-fi movies and stuff like that. But that wouldn't matter anyway. He wouldn't survive long in this hell-like place, inside what was left of the facility.

* * *

Freeman heard a Latino man say something about stinging, and that's just how he felt under his HEV suit. It stung like the heavens.  
"Alright, mister, get out of the tube so we can see your hands up," the black Marine ordered him.  
Gordon moved, but he felt two objects on his sides. The thing on his left felt round and square at the same time, while the one at his right felt long and bent. He looked down and saw the HEV's helmet and a crowbar lying next to him.  
"Don't get any funny ideas. We can shoot you if you even think about picking that stick up," said Jenkins.  
"Wow, Jenkins," Johnson mused, his voice heavy with sarcasm. "Acting all tough since you have someone at the barrel of your gun. We could've used a bit of that in Reach." Annoyed by his commanding officer but unable to do anything about it, the private simply gritted his teeth.  
Freeman was forced to stand up against the pain. He didn't know what else to do. If he stayed there, he might have been shot.  
"Alright, kid. We'll have to take you to the brig for interrogation," said the black Marine.  
The low-ranking Marines dragged Gordon since he was disoriented by the cryo tube. The HEV numbed some of the pain, but it was still stinging.  
Once they reached the brig, they put Gordon in a dark room dimly illuminated only by a single light on the ceiling. Inside, there was a desk with a small disk on it.  
"Please, sit down," said a disembodied woman's voice.  
Sure enough, Freeman saw a chair behind the desk. Being frozen took a heavy toll on his senses. He immediately plopped down on it, still quite groggy.  
"Why were you here," said the voice again.  
Gordon didn't know why he was here. The last time he knew where he was, he was in Black Mesa, New Mexico. He had a lot of explaining to do involving the resonance cascade.

Moments later:

"So you got here through the possibility of a resonance cascade?" said the disembodied voice.  
Gordon nodded.  
"And you think you replaced our crew member through a similar event?"  
Gordon nodded.  
"I guess we got off the wrong foot, Mr…"  
Cortana scanned a name tag on the suit, quietly sighing to herself for not bothering to read it the previous time.  
"Freeman?"  
Gordon nodded.  
"Alright. We're going to need extra hands since we lost our Petty Officer, so I guess you'd do well as a replacement. But don't do anything funny. Our Marines are still here, and they don't do well with hiding secrets."  
A bright purple light flashed in sequences on the disk, making Gordon's tired eyes squint slightly. After what seemed like a blur, a blue woman with numbers running up and down her body replaced the light.  
"Am I clear," said Cortana.  
Gordon was in awe. He never saw any hologram so life-like.  
"Am I clear," repeated the woman with more authority.  
Gordon nodded.  
Before everything else, Freeman requested to go back to cryo bay two to get his helmet and crowbar. Just then, something hit the ship.  
"Damn," the purple woman exclaimed. "I guess you'd have to go quick. You'll find out sooner or later what we're fighting against."  
As Freeman jogged back to the cryo bay, some feeling already returning to his muscles, Cortana quickly remembered something, a bit of courtesy embedded in her programming.  
"Wait!" Cortana yelled.  
Gordon looked back.  
"My name is Cortana."  
And Gordon nodded one last time before retrieving his items.

**Hidden Mantis: **How'd the second chapter go?

It took SO LONG for me to finish this. Writer's block, lack of time and everything in the world hindered me from accomplishing what I have not done yet.

Obviously, this one's longer than the first.

To Exdeamon:

Thanks for the rule of grammar. I will never forget that next time. Yes, Gordon gets Cortana. No, John doesn't get Alyx.

Note: Alyx Vance would have been probably 3 years old since the Black Mesa incident, and we wouldn't like to pair the Master Chief up with a baby. Instead of Alyx, we're going to get a few other girls. I won't spoil you guys, though. I never forgot Gordon's crowbar. Still, I thank you for the thoughtfulness.

I'd like to try making chapters in more or less a monthly basis.

You will NEVER hear Gordon Freeman talk! I will stay true to Half-life.

I like plasma grenades. I think of them as Poke Balls.

Both use sophisticated technology. You throw both of them at odd creatures. They're both round and have a button at one point.

The difference of each is that you hit something with a Poke Ball, it gets sucked in and you capture it live.

If you hit something with a plasma grenade, it gets blown out and what's left of it is usually dead.

R&R please.

Till next time!

**Fact:** Cryo means ice.


	3. Preparation

**Hidden Mantis:** Finally, some action!

Legal Disclaimer: I still don't own Half-life, Sierra, Valve, Gearbox, Halo, Bungie and Microsoft. I still wish I did.

* * *

Date: September 29, 2552

Gordon was assisted to Cryo Bay Two by Tech Chief Thom Shephard.

"You know, you're probably the only civilian here on this ship," Thom informed Freeman. "Everybody else here's either a Marine or Navy man."

Gordon nodded.

"You do know how to shoot a weapon, right?"

Gordon nodded.

Gordon Freeman had experienced slight military training in Black Mesa through the facilities own little training exercise called the 'Hazard Course'. It helped the staff keep limber and alert just in case something catastrophic would happen in the labs.

* * *

Date: May 2002

Something catastrophic did happen in the labs.  
Turning to the next bend in the hallway, Master Chief encountered his, chronologically, first enemy. A headcrab.

It came from what seemed to be a flash that appeared in the center of the room.  
It was a grotesque creature, about the size of a watermelon and had two strong hind legs used for jumping, two stubby frontal legs used for support and two large mandibles.

Immediately following its instincts to latch on to a host, the headcrab threw itself onto the Chief. With John's motion tracker sensing fast movement and noticing the odd creature, he ducked.

The headcrab flew over the Master Chief. Its mandibles pierced through a wall and it got stuck.

The Master Chief immediately knew that this creature was a threat. He made a fist, sprinted toward the wall and punched the alien. Yellow, pus-like blood oozed over his gloves.

That was _probably_ the first and last time John would hit a creature like that.

* * *

"You'd better know how to shoot," said Thom. "After seeing what we're up against, you'll need to know."

Gordon heard the word "what". He thought that these people were fighting against another group of people. Why did this Navy personnel say "what"?

"Fire teams, Alpha to Sierra fall back to evac-stations. Stand-by to repel boarders," says Cortana's voice over the intercom.

* * *

Master Chief called Jim and Fred to follow him. Fred was still incapacitated from his near-death experience, so Jim carried him on his shoulders.

"Ugh. What is that thing?" asked Fred, disgusted at the felled alien.  
"That's probably one of the things I thought that would enter through other portals," informed Jim, failing to hide his fear.  
"Well, I'll just make sure these things won't get you guys," says John.

* * *

They reached the Cryo chamber. It was shut down, since there was no one in it. The helmet and the crowbar were left untouched.

Tech Officer Third Class Samuel Marcus opened the hatch for Freeman.

Gordon held on to both items. Both were still cold, since nothing warmed them in the tube.

"Bridge to Cryo Two, send Gordon Freeman to the bridge immediately," a voice rung over the intercom.

Gordon wondered why he was going to go to the bridge of the ship. And who exactly was calling him there? The Captain?

Just then, a loud thumping was heard from where Sam was. Thom and Gordon looked up to the control room; Gordon had just worn his helmet, not bothering to latch it onto his suit.

"Oh God!" Sam said with fear in his voice. "They're trying to get through the door!"

Pressing a button under the control panel, Sam desperately called for security, but in vain.

The door exploded, revealing a creature Gordon had not seen before. It was tall, about 7 feet in height, but was hunched in a combat position, so it was probably 8 feet in height. It probably wore an armor of some sort, but revealed parts of skin. Gordon could only make an outline, since the tinted windows of the control room didn't allow him to get visual detail.

It shot a blue bolt from something it held. A gun?

The glowing bullet struck Sam in the chest, burning him and knocking the wind out of him. He hit the floor before he knew it.

Sam's vision blurred as he groped at his wound. His hands were sticky with blood. _It doesn't hurt, _he thought. _It should hurt, shouldn't it?_

He remembered Earth, the place where he used to live before joining the UNSC. It's been three years since he's last seen his wife. He thought of her like she was the only thing in the world.

Suddenly, a hoof pinned his arm to the floor. The owner of the boot aimed its weapon at Sam's head and fired.

* * *

"No! The lasers!" Jim exclaimed. "They've breached through the pipes!"

The Master Chief apparently saw this as a problem. A powerful laser was ripping through steel and circuit. A machine exploded as soon as one of the lasers touched it.

Jim fainted when he saw another security guard, already dead, sliced in two by one of the beams. Fred couldn't help but slump down with Jim.

"Now Fred, take care of Jim for a while. I'll go on ahead and come back for you later," said the same raspy voice that came from the green armor.

"Yeah. Sure. I don't think I have much of a choice, though."

That was the last time Fred ever got to see the Spartan. Or any other human being besides Jim.

* * *

"Sam! Sam!" Thom shouted to the control room. His shouts landed on deaf ears.

"Come on! We've got to get out of here!" Thom told Gordon.

They both ran outside Cryo Two towards another pair of doors. As soon as Thom's neural implants opened the doors, another explosion happened. This time closer than Gordon could think. Too close.

Thom was thrown towards Gordon, already dead before he hit the ground. Gordon was blown away, protected only by his HEV suit, its power and Thom's body. Freeman was hurt, and bad.

"Fracture detected," the HEV suit droned. "Morphine administered."

Gordon knew he was hurt, but he felt no pain. The morphine numbed his body; he could still move as if he wasn't injured. He looked at his health monitor. 78, it read.

Gordon looked around the hallway for an exit. The door that was engulfed in the explosion was jammed, so it wasn't an option.

To his right, he saw pipes. An opening was above the pipes. Gordon decided it was the best way out of there.

* * *

Kent Dunham shot another creature in the face. Or at least where its face was supposed to be. He killed two others a while ago.

The alien-looking monster had long claws protruding from its arms, and they looked razor-sharp. The creatures were drenched in red blood.

The oddest thing was that they were wearing scientist uniforms.

The last shot downed the bloody enemy. Suddenly, a sound coming from the broken elevator caught his attention.

"Don't shoot. I'm on your side," said a voice that seemed to scratch at Kent's ears.

The security guard pointed his weapon at the source of the sound. It was a tall humanoid machine.

"I'm human just like you," said Master Chief.

Kent was astonished. He couldn't believe he was seeing a 7 foot tall man in green armor.

"Uhh… Show me some proof," said the guard, confused.

"You know Fred Anderson?" asked John.

"How'd you know that guy?" Kent asked, still pointing his Glock at the metal man.

"We met. He and a scientist are still downstairs, but they're trapped. We better move quick before they stay stuck there."

Kent knew better than to leave a fellow guard down. He joined the metal man, whom he would know later as John.

* * *

Gordon slowed his pace. Another door was in front of him. He didn't trust this second door.

He tossed his crowbar towards the door. Sure enough, the door exploded as soon as the crowbar landed in front. The force of the boom sent the metal spinning towards Gordon's feet harmlessly.

Gordon knew it was relatively safe now. He went through the broken portal. In the next bend, he saw some of the _Autumn_'s crew fighting against something behind a wall that obstructed his vision. He saw the crewmen shoot their M6D pistols at their adversaries, and the enemies returned fire with green and blue blobs of what seems to look like plasma.

"Secure those blast doors! Move, move!" ordered a Marine. Soon, the large doors started to close.

Gordon finally caught a glimpse of what they were fighting against: creatures that have large orange backs, possibly armor of some sort, and a few tall ones similar to the one Gordon saw in the Cryo Bay's control room.

He saw everything in fine detail. The large ones had split lips, and looked like they were leading the smaller creatures. The big ones looked more threatening, and they really were threatening.

They didn't get the chance to go through the closing doors. They shot a few more bolts through what was left of the opening, not hitting anything but the ship's walls, and didn't do any more.

Gordon went through a dark hallway, leaving the wounded crewmen. What he saw next would stay imprinted in his mind for a while.

One of the tall aliens warbled at his face, its saliva splashing at his visor. He hit it with his crowbar, but it didn't penetrate skin, or even armor. Instead, it was blocked by something hard and slippery. Where the metal had hit, a glowing shroud that seemed to protect the alien appeared.

Gordon realized what was happening. The alien had a personal shield system.

Gordon expected the creature to kill him. He braced himself, but instead the thing retreated soon after Freeman heard gunshots to his left. Bullets hit the shield, but it never touched the alien. The tall monster retreated behind a door.

"Are you Gordon Freeman?" asked one of the Marines.

Gordon nodded.

"You better get to the bridge double quick," informed the Marine.

Gordon ran.

Right into another hallway where Marines and Navy crewmen were having another firefight with the aliens.

"Doctor, the Captain needs you on the bridge A.S.A.P. You better follow me," screams one Marine over the whirring of plasma rounds and explosions of gunfire.

Gordon tailed the Marine through another hallway. He saw other Marines, wounded and incapacitated. Some of them were shot near the gut, blood gushing slowly but steadily out. He had no time to take notice.

Through the next hallway, another firefight was in place. The Marine who led Gordon shot a few rounds before going back to the path towards the bridge. The aliens were closed down from behind another blast door. Wounded men littered the halls of the _Autumn_.

"This is the bridge, sir. The Captain's waiting for you inside," says the Marine before going back to the action.

Gordon saw rows of controls being manned by UNSC crewmen. He could read some trajectories for the ship going to what looked like a large hoop.

Continuing to walk toward the front of the room, he saw two pilots and someone in a white uniform. The Captain?

The man in white turned around and saw the man in the orange metal suit he'd only heard of.

And so, the Captain formally introduced himself.

"Gordon Freeman, I presume?" he asked.

Gordon nodded.

"I see. Well, I'm the Captain of this bird. Captain Keyes."

Gordon proceeded to shake his hand. The Captain freely accepted.

"I expect you've met our enemies, the Covenant," Keyes said.

Gordon nodded.

"I've sent you here for one purpose and one alone," said Keyes. "That is, I want you to take care of Cortana for me."

Gordon was taken aback. Why would this man entrust him with an impressive piece of software? Possibly even more than software!

A small platform suddenly started to flicker with purple light. Cortana appeared.

"I expect you to take good care of me, would you?" said the AI.

Unsure, Gordon nodded.

A strong vibration suddenly rocked the ship, letting Gordon, Keyes and the rest of the crew lose balance.

"Damage report!" Cortana ordered.

"Ma'am, the power to our MAC cannons is offline!"

"Damnit," said Cortana.

The MAC cannon was the Human race's strongest non-nuclear weapon. It fires either a ferric tungsten shell, or a depleted uranium shell at 40 percent the speed of light. Three direct hits from the ship's cannons to most Covenant ships would kill their shields, and the last slug would still have enough inertia to destroy the ship, Without these, the _Autumn_ couldn't stand a chance against the Covenant.

"I suspected as much," said Cortana. "This is where you come in, Dr. Freeman."

"I know that your suit doesn't have a data crystal chip, but I've improvised while you were on your way here. We've made this simple radio," a crewmember showed it, "that can be inserted with a crystal chip. It should enable me to talk directly to your frequency and talk to the Marines' frequency, too. Without the crystal, you couldn't carry me around."

Gordon started to understand. Of course, an AI like Cortana would need a large amount of memory to store her. His suit couldn't handle that kind of software.

The crewmember gave Gordon the radio. He attached it on his HEV suit, surprised that it fit snuggly in the front.

"Gordon, please don't lose her," Captain Keyes said.

Gordon never intended to lose her. He nodded.

"Let me take a moment to collect some files," Cortana said.

She pressed on her temples for a while.

"Alright. Yank me."

Keyes pressed a button and Cortana's image was reduced to a blur, and then nothing. He pulled the crystal disk out.

Keyes gave Freeman the disk. Gordon, then, inserted it into the makeshift radio.

"Testing, testing…" Cortana mumbled. "Everything seems fine."

After all that was done, Keyes handed Gordon an M6D handgun.

"I don't keep it loaded, so you're going to have to find ammo as you go," the Captain said.

Gordon nodded.

Walking out of the bridge, he began to embark on a new journey, one that would lead him to Halo and its secrets.

**Hidden Mantis:** Oh man. Writing things takes too long. 'Specially if you're still in high school. Juggling writing and study is hard!

I regret to inform all the readers out there that I might not be able to fulfill my quota of one chapter per-month. It's just too much of a hassle. Maybe more than a month will do.

R&R please!

I don't think this would be the final version of the chapter, though.

Oh yeah. I have a reccomended book for all the readers out there. You know "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding? It's a must read!

Tah tah for now.

Fact: If you play Crysis on a low-end rig, you'll end up with floating eyeballs for allies. And you'd probably stop playing.

I edited this on July 18 due to lots of typos. Oops...


	4. Retaliate

Legal disclaimer:

I do not own Sierra, Valve, Half-life, Bungie, Gearbox, Microsoft and/or Halo and other related companies whatsoever. I wish I did, anyway.

**Hidden Mantis: **Sorry guys. I'm getting too busy and lazy at the same time. We're gonna stop focusing on Master Chief and go on with Freeman for a while.

* * *

Date: September 29, 2552

Gordon turned a corner. Just then, he heard sounds coming from outside the _Autumn_'s bridge. Barking?

Gordon stepped back and made sure whatever caused the sounds couldn't hear him.

"Those barking aliens in our vicinity are Grunts," said Cortana. They're the lowest ranking ones in the Covenant, a large group of alien races bent on destroying mankind."

"They're cowardly alone, but strong in packs, so don't be careless. I'd recommend shooting the methane tanks on their backs with your M6D. The armor-piercing explosive slugs will take care of the rest."

Remembering his pistol, Gordon examined it more closely. It was a large, recoil-operated, magazine-fed magnum and had a scope where the front iron sights should have been.

Gordon thought this technology was too simplistic for anything that came 500 years in the future. Then again, this technology was pretty much fail-proof.

Freeman ejected the magazine. He saw the .50 caliber bullets. Semi-Armor Piercing, High Explosive. And there were 12 of them if it were in full capacity. There were currently 6.

He understood the outcome.

* * *

Date: May 2002

Kent followed John around. Being near an intimidating man in a metal suit wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world, but being the only one to walk with in Black Mesa, he couldn't be picky.

After picking off a few other zombies, they walked through what was left of the lab's hallways. Kent backtracked to the cafeteria to search for survivors, but to no avail. He only saw a trail of blood that led to the bathrooms, and then to nowhere.

"I'm sorry this happened," the Chief said.

"This ain't your fault. Something else did this. Or someone. At least I think so," Kent replied.

Walking back to the guard station at the entrance of the facility, a headcrab was lying there waiting for prey.

It lunged at Kent and tried to reach its target. He whacked it with his pistol to try and fend it off, making it miss, but not before it stabbed him on the shoulder with one of its mandibles.

"Guahh!" Kent screamed in pain.

The Chief picked up Kent's fallen Glock and fired at the alien, yellow blood oozing out of its wounds. Two rounds and it was a goner.

"Thanks man. It would've killed me if you weren't here," Kent muttered only loud enough for John to hear.

"You need medical attention," said the Chief. "Sit here and I'll go find a first-aid kit."

"Nah, you go on without me," Kent replied, trying to sound valiant. "I'll hold on from here. There's a med kit underneath that desk over there. Can you go get it for me?"

The Chief scooted over to the desk, grabbed the first-aid and gave it to Kent.

"Let me patch you up."

"I don't think so. I'm just slowing you down. I'll do it myself. You need to save others, if there are any. Go. Find them."

John then left Kent. It would've been a while until he found other security guards.

He punched a vent shaft open and crawled through it.

* * *

Cortana already took note of the fact that Gordon's HEV suit assisted his aiming. She speculated that it would integrate to the pistol's scope. She was right. Gordon had an easier time aiming with its 2x scope, but it felt kind of awkward looking at his surroundings using his extended arms.

Gordon aimed at the Grunts' orange backs. He pulled the trigger. He felt a hard kick against his palm even though he wore protective armor. The shot caused a small explosion in the _Autumn's _hallways. Blue-green blood remained on the walls. The stench of scorched methane and skin filled the hallway. Gordon was lucky the helmet filtered most of the smell, but a faint odor remained.

Freeman walked towards the closest door, right into a firefight in the ship's cafeteria. A dead Marine was lying near his feet. An MA5B Assault Rifle was beside him. Gordon picked up the bloodied gun.

The rifle was light. Probably a polymer of some sort. It was pretty sturdy; it got partially burnt by a plasma slug but was still functional and intact.

The rifle had a full magazine capacity of 60 7.62x51 bullets, but this one carried 14. Gordon knew it was best to reload for a full burst.

"The Marines in the mess hall are skirmishing against an Elite, a stronger race in the Covenant army," Cortana said. "They're as tall and strong as they are proud."

The Elite was daunting. It carried a gun that was too large to be carried with one human hand, but looked like a pistol when the alien carried it; the same type of gun that killed Samuel Marcus. It warbled as it entered the mess hall, its mandibles opening and vibrating. Two Grunts followed it in.

Gordon shot it from where he entered, hitting its shielded frame. Some of his controlled bursts bounced off from the edges of its protective bubble. Four Marines who were much closer to the alien joined him in a symphony of lead.

Within a few seconds, the Elite dropped down in a bloody and blistered mess. Gordon thought of shooting the Grunts' backs again, but it wasn't safe for the Marines close to them. He shot with pinpoint accuracy at their necks while jogging up to the party of men.

The Grunts and Elite only barely scorched one Marine with their plasma weapons. Regrouping, the Marines spied the man who shot over their backs.

"You're that stowaway in the Cryobay, right? You made us lose the Chief!" said one Marine.

"Shut it, soldier! We need all the hands we can get in this situation!" a Corporal snapped.

"Happy to have you aboard mister–,"

"Freeman. Gordon Freeman," said the radio strapped to his front, right where a breast pocket should be.

"Ma'am!" said the Corporal. He saluted.

The rest of the Marines followed suit.

"Please treat the good doctor with utmost care," barked the Corporal to his squad. "He is carrying precious cargo! Without him, our Earth might already be in the hands of the enemy."

"Yes sir!" said the rest of the Marines.

Just then, doors down the end of the cafeteria opened to reveal two squads of Elites and Grunts entering. The larger aliens growled a couple of orders. The Grunts started shooting.

The green blobs of plasma were easily seen, but the projectiles were too fast to dodge at this close range. Marine armor plate melted against the alien bullets. A human dropped on the floor without as much as a whimper.

Gordon knew his training at the Hazard Course would come in handy. Strafing while shooting was a fairly good tactic in this situation. Even though his accuracy would significantly decrease, it would be compensated with the HEV's aiming reticule assistance and the fact that he could easily dodge the floating bolts.

He bought two Grunts down with his assault rifle without getting himself shot at while the rest of the Marines killed the others. The Elites continued shooting at them with blue bolts.

Everyone in the party followed Gordon's tactics. Strafing the Elites in circles and making sure not to hit their allies; it was a dance of death.

The two Covenant squads were downed, but a Marine was lost. "This is the cycle of death that the Covenant wants to continue," Cortana radioed Gordon discreetly. "This is why we have to stop them."

Gordon nodded to himself.

Spying some first-aid kits, Gordon grabbed some. "These kits have biofoam, a special kind of medicine that is a coagulant, antibacterial, and heals your wounds at a faster rate than normal regeneration," Cortana informed. "You should apply some on your wounds."

But Gordon had a better idea. He dumped the biofoam into the HEV's extra medicinal canister. He, then, fiddled with the suit a bit (removing the back, reprogramming it, then attaching it back again), then after activating his suit, made sure all systems were operational.

"Wait! Before you apply the biofoam, there's gonna be a-." But before Cortana could finish, Gordon already started the administering of first-aid. It stung. Probably even more than the Cryo tube. It felt like burning ants crawling all around his fracture. If the morphine hadn't numbed most of the pain, it would've been more painful.

"Stinging sensation," Cortana finished too late.

Gordon's vision blurred for a bit. Everything was white. After what seemed to be an eternity of pain, the stinging subsided. He checked his health monitor. 100.

It worked. Gordon felt better in no time, but for the price of excruciating pain.

* * *

John found his first-ever houndeye. The dog-alien screamed at him. If a normal human was standing there now, their bones would've been broken. Spartans had their bodies augmented in such ways that they were virtually invincible. John's bones were unbreakable.

He shot the creature in the face, in what seems to be its eye. The houndeye toppled and died.

Soon, more houndeyes came.

"This is gonna be a long day," the Master Chief said to himself.

* * *

Being a scientist, he never had real military training. He only did the shooting. So, he did something that he always wanted to do. He signaled the Marines to go ahead with his forefinger and middle finger extended, flicking it in a certain way. Gordon was surprised when the Marines followed the order.

"I'm giving you the rank of Sergeant Major from here-on," Cortana said. "You ARE my personal bodyguard, right?" She giggled to herself.

Gordon raised an eyebrow, but it was pretty much useless since no one else could see in the helmet.

A crash was felt while walking down one of the hallways.

"What the hell! Did something just hit us?" a Marine asked aloud.

"Move in! Back to the airlock!" the Corporal issued an order.

They continued down the hallway until they stopped near some space lifeboats. Two Marines were stationed near the entrance of one of them. Something was wrong. Why would they examine a used lifeboat dock?

A blue explosion rocked the hallway. What was left of the Marines were around the docking area. A Grunt poked his head out of the explosion's epicenter. Gordon aimed and fired. Blue-green blood splattered behind the Grunt's head.

Another batch of Covenant forces were moving in. A few orange Grunts, an Elite, and a red Grunt came out of the hatch. The Marines made short work of the group, but Gordon was surprised due to the fact that the red Grunt lasted longer in battle than their orange companions.

"The Covenant has a hierarchy system that is not only interracial, but also applies in every race," said Cortana. "Probably."

Gordon hit his visor, as if to hit his forehead. Why did Cortana give information in the first place if she wasn't even sure?

"What?" Cortana complained. "So you think you know everything about the Covenant, eh? We haven't even researched then thoroughly!"

"But there are probably other races of the Covenant out there," said Cortana as she calmed down.

Gordon nodded.

"The red Grunts are similar to the human Sergeant rank. They've been trained better than their orange companions, but they're still relatively weak alone."

Gordon nodded.

During Cortana's lecture, Gordon picked up some ammo for his pistol and rifle near the dock. They were in convenient plastic coverings, ready to rip up and use.

Before going on to the next skirmish, Gordon investigated inside the lifeboat dock. A covenant boarding craft was there.

"They're using our lifeboat airlocks to attach their boarding craft. We go out and they come in! Clever bastards…"

"We'll stay here and make sure no more Covenant get through these docks, ma'am," said the Corporal.

"Thank you. I appreciate that," replied Cortana.

Going back out of the alien craft, Gordon continued down the hallway.

Outside the ship, battles were going on.

The _Pillar of Autumn_ wasn't going to last if this onslaught continued. The human Longsword fighters furiously fought with smaller and faster Covenant fighters. Besides these dogfights, the _Autumn_ was desperately trying to dodge the huge plasma torpedoes that enemy battlecruisers were throwing at them. Captain Keyes was dodging all the way. Evasive maneuvers didn't affect the crew inside due to the artificial gravity.

Captain Keyes was no slacker when it came to evasive maneuvers. During the battle at Sigma Octanus IV in the _UNSC Iroquois_, Keyes performed an attack involving what, at first, seemed to be a ramming maneuver against a Covenant destroyer, right after being chased by a plasma torpedo. But at the last minute, he "looped" around the enemy, "grazing" two meters of hull with the Covenant ship's shields, but destroying the enemy with its own torpedo. But that was the past. The _Iroquois_ was a destroyer, which is smaller, faster, and more maneuverable than the _Halcyon_ class _UNSC Pillar of Autumn_. This meant trouble.

Another plasma torpedo hit the _Pillar of Autumn_.

"Damn. I don't know how long this bird can take," muttered Captain Keyes to himself.

* * *

**Hidden Mantis:** Heh. Cliffhanger for desired effect. The Pillar of Autumn level is taking too long. So, I promise even more action in the next chapter.

Symphony of lead. I like that. Lol...

College is approaching fast, and I have really great news. For me.

I'm applying at Full Sail University at Florida. And I'm going for BS Game Development, which means I might be making stuff like Halo sooner or later!

Tuition is such a drag.

Well, I hope you liked this chapter.

R&R please!

Fact: Polar bears are pink inside. Their fur isn't white; each individual hair is hollow.


	5. Yield

Legal Disclaimer:

I do not own Sierra, Valve, Half-life, Bungie, Gearbox, Microsoft and/or Halo and other related companies whatsoever. I wish I did, anyway.

**Hidden Mantis**: Dangit! My computer monitor blew! O_O

The details? While I was away one weekend, a freak thunderstorm suddenly reared its ugly head and a lightning bolt's static electricity destroyed the monitor! *anger at nature*.

Kidding. I love nature. 3.

But I still can't get over the damage. T^T

Anyway, I hope this next chapter pleases you.

* * *

Date: September 29, 2552

Freeman walked down the _Autumn's_ winding, derelict pathways. Adrenaline clouded his mind; all he wanted to do is escape the ship.

Gordon walked down a dark hallway, illuminated by a lone beacon, vainly trying to warn anyone about the incoming invasion, its light only falling into blind eyes.

A lone Grunt was stationed in the hall. Gordon partially saw its large back in the red light, already knowing that the hunching alien was there. It tried to shoot Gordon, only succeeding in making glowing holes in the _Autumn's _walls. Gordon killed the alien, making holes in its tank with his assault rifle. Blue-green blood illuminated the hall.

(Note: Contrary to videogame and movie lore, if you shoot a .50 cal sniper round in a propane tank, you won't get an explosion [Info courtesy of MythBusters]. You'll just get holes in your tank. You might, however, get a satisfying explosion if you shoot a .50 cal napalm-tipped bullet at a methane tank, which is precisely the type of ammo in the Halo pistol.)

He walked down the next, brighter walkway. A firefight was ensuing, Marines versus some Covenant he couldn't see. A wall was blocking his view.

He decided to flank the enemy alone.

He turned right, expecting the rest of the Covenant to fight the Marines. At about the same time Gordon was about to turn left, he saw a Grunt's face up close.

The Grunt paused for a while to survey the event. It paused too long; Gordon grabbed his crowbar and whacked the alien in the skull. Blood and brain-matter covered his crowbar's curved top.

After moving the alien to one side, Gordon peeked through the Grunt's passageway. He saw an Elite and some other Grunts, all focused on the party of Marines. He hid and grabbed his pistol to conserve his rifle ammo: 4 magazines worth 60 bullets each. He knew he should kill the Elite first, and that the incendiary rounds would blow its shields out. He just didn't know when.

* * *

Date: May 16, 2002

The Master Chief was shuffling through the darkest recesses of Black mesa. He had seen odd things, odder than the Covenant he was used to fighting against.

Headcrabs, headcrab zombies, houndeyes and a bullsquid, their names pretty much described what they were.

The creatures weren't troublesome; they moved too slowly for John's reflexes and his personal shields made short work of their attacks.

After travelling and battling for an hour in the research facility, the Chief decided to go exploring, looking behind every door he could find. Who knows what he could find?

An unwary scientist, Dyson Poincare, was inside an empty maintenance closed, curled up in a ball. He didn't bother to lock; he might see an unwanted visitor face-to-face during the attempt.

Suddenly, the metal door creaked open. He shut his eyes, waiting for the inevitable.

"Please stand," said a rough but calming voice.

To Dyson's surprise, he saw a man in what seemed to him was a green, bulky HEV suit. He was tall. Taller than himself by half-a-foot.

"I'm John," the Chief said, an outstretched right hand presented, a Glock pointed away in the left.

* * *

Gordon wielded his scoped pistol. He cocked, aimed for the Elite's head, held is breath to lessen movement – and fired.

The Elite felt its head jerk to one side.

As Gordon expected, the alien's shield appeared. He shot again.

The Elite then felt a second punch right into its noggin. It turned to face its attacker, pointing its plasma rifle at him.

Gordon shot for the third time, this time causing the beast's shield to shatter under all the combined stress of the Marines' attacks and Gordon's pistol rounds, having just enough inertia to pierce the alien's forehead.

As the Elite fumbled lifelessly to the ground, Gordon thought the Grunts were going to run. To his surprise, another Elite appeared from behind the enemy squad, this time concentrating its fire on Gordon.

Gordon hid behind the plasma-scorched wall and switched quickly back to his Assault Rifle.

The Grunts focused their fire on the Marines while the Elite continued to shoot at Gordon.

Realizing that the Covenant divided their fire, the Marines took this to their advantage and fired on the unwary Elite while dodging the Grunts' fire. Meanwhile, Gordon was returning the enemy squad-leader's fire.

In no time, the second Elite slumped to the ground, knocking and pinning down one of the Grunts. The other two ran.

The Marines rendezvoused with Gordon in the junction. One of them took out his pistol and shot the pinned Grunt in the head. The smaller alien slumped with the larger one.

"Ma'am! Permission to join your squad!" one of the Marines yelled.

"Permission granted," said Cortana.

"Allies are important, you know," she said to Gordon over his personal comm.

Gordon nodded.

* * *

"So you're a supersoldier from the future?" asked Dyson.

"Yes."

"And you were teleported here, along with all those aliens?"

"Yes, but probably from different dimensions and times,"

"And you're trying to stop all this mess, then get back to your timeline?"

"Well, that's the general idea," John replied for the last time.

"I see," Dyson said flatly.

_I think it's safe to reveal this kind of info to this civilian_, John thought. _No one's going to need the knowledge anyway._

_This man's military is intriguing_, Dyson, too, thought for himself. _Do they not have ethics and morals? Modifying a human being?_

Unknown to Master Chief, someone _did_ listen in to their conversation. Someone who had importance to this dimensional switcheroo.

* * *

As Gordon walked along and shot the remnants of the last Covenant squad encounter, he once again continued down the path ahead. It would lead him to a stairway; he could see from a sign.

The moment he saw the stairwell and some Marines, – "Covenant! In the landing above us!" Cortana told Gordon, alarmed.

Sure enough, he saw two Elites returning fire to the Marines at ground level. They had the advantage of higher ground.

"It would be disadvantageous if you would just return fire at those Elites," Cortana informed Gordon. "But it would be risky to just run up those stairs."

Before Cortana said the second statement, Gordon already decided. He would run. Sprint was a more appropriate word.

During his early days at Black Mesa, he would race with Barney Calhoun, the security guard, to do Dr. Kleiner's errands, getting his keys that get locked in the good doctor's room. Apparently, this happens very often. And this was where Freeman learned to use ventilation shafts to infiltrate buildings.

He sprinted up the stairs, spraying the Elites in front of him with bullets. This was good enough to stun them for a split second, sliding behind some steel beams. A blue bolt hit where his head was half a second ago. The firefight continued.

* * *

"I'm gonna try to get us out of here," John said, "so stay behind me at all times."

"I know how to shoot a gun. I've been trained," said Dyson, trying to reason out of his embarrassing predicament.

Master Chief saw this as an awkward moment; the man he was trying to protect was trying to get a gun.

Dyson was less typical-looking than most scientists. He had a large build, wasn't bespectacled, his eyes were brown and his rough, wild mass of hair, a darker shade of bronze than most vampires have, pointed everywhere.

"Like I said," Dyson muttered, "I've trained. I'm second to Gordon Freeman, the man they sent to start this whole mess," he said angrily.

"But I don't think he's the one to blame," Dyson finally said after a moment.

Although it was an odd event, he let Dyson get the Glock. If it was all that it took to make the scientist feel safe, it was fine. And at the unlikely moment that friendly fire occurred, Master Chief's shields would protect him.

The two climbed up some maintenance stairs, trying to forage for some supplies they can use for survival. The Chief went up first. What he saw put him off guard.

A headcrab zombie and two headcrabs were waiting for them in the top.

One of the headcrabs lunged at Master Chief; Dyson was still climbing.

John punched the alien away, dealing immense damage to the creature's carapace. It already died before it hit the ground 10 feet below.

Seeing the fight ahead, Dyson did what he had to do: shoot.

John, in the heat of battle, wanted to tell Dyson to shoot at the headcrabs first, then the zombie's head, but instead Poincare did something very radical. He shot at something behind the zombie.

The Master Chief's reflexes were like giving living people the ability to slow down time, in real time. Because he was taken aback, he didn't see the barrel behind the aliens. He saw the bits of shrapnel and embers fly towards him and Dyson. The aliens flew away from the explosion's epicenter, but not towards the pair.

Dyson saw a very odd thing at that moment. Where the shrapnel hit John's suit, he saw that a glowing shroud, almost like a see-though, glittery golden blanket, appeared. It was like nothing that any human ever saw; fireworks that happened in small scale, but were following the contours of the human body.

"Now, let's get this over with," said John, trying to hide the fact that he missed some detail to the battle. He was slightly embarrassed, but the suit didn't let him show it.

Continuing down the burnt flesh hallway, they received their just rewards: a few hand grenades and a Spas-12 with 18 shells.

"I'll get the shotgun," said Dyson.

"No," John playfully retaliated. "You already got dibs on the Glock."

It didn't seem obvious at first, but a friendship was being formed in the dark hallways of Black Mesa.

* * *

Multiple firefights flared Gordon's blood with the still flowing adrenaline. His heart raced. He already went past the Cryo Bay in what seemed like a heartbeat. He went through the _Autumn's_ maintenance shafts to evade Covenant patrols and had charged up his HUD using the ship's wiring, and now he was facing a large squad of Covenant (two Red Elites and a bunch of ragtag Grunts), and all that was between him and them was a barrier studded with grenades ready to use.

Gordon unpinned three and threw them at the aliens one by one. The last one exploded right into an Elite's face. The panic-stricken enemies retreated, just before being mowed down by a flanking Marine squad.

"That's the last lifeboat airlock," Cortana said. "Climb aboard before it launches!"

As the last few Marines got in, Gordon went last. The airlock hissed behind him, then he strapped himself down.

"We're disengaged, going for minimum safe distance," the lifeboat pilot informed the crew.

Gordon finally saw the _Pillar of Autumn_ in full view. It was a large, odd-shaped spaceship. It looked more like a rifle than a vessel.

"We're gonna make it aren't we?" asked one Marine. "I don't wanna die out here."

"Look!" Cortana said to Gordon. And Gordon did look. It was a ring.

The odd thing about this ring was it had plant life all over its inner side. It was almost like Earth as Gordon imagined it from space, but inverted and cut down.

"What is that thing, Liutenant?" one Marine asked the pilot.

"Hell if I know, but we're landing on it."

"The _Autumn_!" screamed one Marine. "She's been hit!"

"I knew it," Cortana muttered audibly to herself and Gordon. "Keyes is going in manual!"

"Heads-up everyone, this is it," the pilot informed the crew for the last time. "We're entering the atmosphere in five…"

* * *

**Hidden Mantis:** Wow. That took a long time.

I hope I didn't trouble anyone.

Merry Christmas to all of the readers out there! I hope and pray that I can make chapters faster, AND get the focus to actually finish them on time.

Fact: My little brother, aged 8, can drive. Big whoop.

R & R please!


	6. Adjusting

Legal Disclaimer:

I do not own Sierra, Valve, Half-life, Bungie, Gearbox, Microsoft and/or Halo and other related companies whatsoever. I wish I did, anyway.

**Hidden Mantis:** I'm losing my focus. So much.

I'm planning to make a whole 'nother fanfic, but this one will be HUGE! It'll involve government, economy, religion, civilization and society as we know it!

But then, I'd probably stop on this one. I DON'T WANT TO!

Damn. I hate waiting. And you guys probably do too.

* * *

Date: September 29, 2552

The lifepod ran through the ringworld's atmosphere, heating up quickly, but its angle lessened their speed, but increased the air friction. The insulation kept the Marines inside cozy, but it was still a bumpy ride.

At about 400 ft above the ground, the blinding speeds of the lifeboat were seen by a terrain-based Covenant squad. Kicking sleeping Grunts, the Elite squad commander immediately set their dropship towards the estimated landing zone. They had prey to kill.

The pilot threw open the airbrakes, but too early. They blew away, sending the lifepod careening toward the high side of a cliff.

"Damn! Airbrake failure!"

Gordon didn't like the sound of that. Neither did the crew.

"I'm loosin' her!" screamed the pilot. "Brace for impact!" The pilot grabbed hold on a control panel.

Gordon waited for the crash.

Date: May 16, 2002

* * *

The Chief and Dyson neared a maintenance lift. It ramped down a good 200 feet below.

"Be careful," said Dyson. "You might fall. It's really deep down there."

"Don't worry about me," said the Master Chief. "My suit has a pressure-regulating liquid – hydrostatic gel – that could protect me even if I freefall 6 kilometers down. I'm more worried about _you _falling."

"I sorta expected that…" Dyson declared quietly. "Obviously that suit does a lot of neat things. Like that shield of yours. That probably means you're practically –."

"Invincible?" asked John.

"Pretty much. Plus, all those bio-augmentations –."

Dyson went quiet. He noticed that the Chief was slightly agitated.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh," said John, noticing that he was making his partner worry. "Nothing. It's nothing."

"If you say so," said Dyson.

The Chief, standing on the lift, waited for Poincare while he pressed the button to activate it.

The button did more than open the lift. It opened a ventilation shaft, sending a swarm of Headcrabs streaming towards them.

"Jump!" shouted Master Chief.

Dyson landed on the lift in a not-so-smooth fashion, almost dropping his pistol. The Master Chief kept his shotgun pointed at the Headcrabs, making sure they were far enough for the bullets to spray all over the aliens.

"Get up! I need you to shoot these things!" shouted John. The pistol was far more suited to shooting things at a distance than the shotgun. Without it, they, or Dyson rather, wouldn't stand a chance against them.

* * *

"Gordon? Gordon, can you hear me!"

Gordon's vision was, for the second time today, blurry; his whole body felt battered and numb again.

"Oh, thank God! You're alright." exclaimed Cortana, her voice slightly sounding far-away.

Gordon checked his health meter. It read 84. He had some fractures and minor bleeding. It also told him all the morphine and the biofoam was gone. The electronic protection he received from the charge-up in the _Autumn_ was depleted, too. This was obviously a bad thing.

"The others… the impact; there was nothing we could do," Cortana's voice trailed away, indicating some sadness.

Gordon found the AI's emotions convincing, but he still wondered whether it was just a front to stimulate human emotions, or real emotions.

Right now, Gordon's body had four fractures: his femur, the Ilium of his pelvis (the highest pelvic boney part), a shattered humerus and his ribs. The rib fractures already healed out when Gordon first used the biofoam, his humerus and part of the pelvis had healed with the rest of the coagulant. Normally, any human being with a broken leg bone couldn't stand upright. Gordon could; his HEV let him.

The HEV acts not only as a protective suit, but also as a "first aid" suit. It injects morphine into the bloodstream to numb pain, and can tighten around the limbs and torso whenever a fracture is found to assist against dislocation of the bone fragments and enabling continued movement. Prolonged battle times could, however, nullify the morphine, leaving the wearer back in pain. Gordon had to find some biofoam fast.

* * *

John and Dyson paced back-to-back against each other, making a perimeter. As Dyson shot at one Headcrab crawling towards him, John punched one pouncing towards Dyson's head.

"We can't last much longer in this mess!" shouted Dyson over the Headcrabs' screams.

"I'm not the one you should be worrying about," said John, swatting another alien with the butt of his rifle and blowing up 3 with a buck.

As the lift was getting nearer to the lower level, the Headcrabs were increasing in number.

"I'm running out of shells," the Chief said worriedly, whacking another Headcrab.

"I'm running out of bullets!" shouted Dyson.

* * *

Gordon crawled out of the ruined lifeboat, grabbing an MA5B Assault Rifle, an M6D pistol, some grenades and the magazines of his felled allies.

As soon as he looked up, he saw for the first time the beauty of the ringworld. His jaw dropped.

It was a beautiful, green landscape, ridded with what looks like evergreen trees. A waterfall was in front of him, about 400 feet high, cascading right down into a river flowing towards the cliff the lifepod almost fell into. There were rolling hills and beautiful vistas, green grass carpeting the floor everywhere he saw, except for the cliff walls and what seems to be a metallic bridge with intricate writing or design.

As Gordon looked back, he saw that the lifeboat was only a few feet away from falling down the cliff. A vast ocean was a kilometer below where Gordon was standing, making him thankful that the lifeboat's momentum wasn't too strong.

Gordon couldn't contemplate on the scenery for too long, though, because at that moment...

"Alert! Covenant patrols are inbound," informed Cortana. "They must be looking for survivors. I suggest immediate evasion."

Gordon knew it was better to hide. He was alone; they were more superior in number. He ran towards the bridge, crossing it as fast as he could without losing balance, since there were no railings.

As he crossed the platform, a dropship flew over him. He prayed that the Covenant didn't spot him and sprinted behind the rocks.

* * *

**Hidden Mantis: **This chapter is too short. I really need inspiration.

Did I make up the "HUD tightening around Gordon's limb," use? Yes I did.

Actually, my friend did.

R&R please. I need to see my mistakes and clean up my fic.

Rest in peace, Michael Jackson. You made the world a better place in your own way.

Fact: Cortana's voice actress, Jen Taylor, also voiced Zoey from Left 4 Dead and Lt. Stokes from F.E.A.R. 2.


	7. Regroup

Legal disclaimer:

I do not own Sierra, Valve, Half-life, Bungie, Gearbox, Microsoft and/or Halo and other related companies whatsoever.

* * *

**Hidden Mantis: **New chapter, more action. And less updates from me.

I think I'm starting to feel like the guy making VGcats. Except I update way less than he does.

* * *

Date: May 16, 2002

"Dyson!" barked the Master Chief just as the lift touched the lowest level. "You run ahead. I'll handle these."

Poincare sprinted to the exit left of the lift, all the while shooting a few Headcrabs setting their senses on him. He disappeared from John's view.

The Chief kicked and swatted the rest of the aliens into the sewers just below. Soon, only three Headcrabs were left on the platform.

Just as he started stomping on one like a cockroach, another lunged at him and, like a lucky few, damaged and got deflected by the Mjolnir's shields. As a sharp beeping sound was heard only by John-117's ears, the last attacking Headcrab skidded across the lift and fell into the water, taking down a companion with it.

The Mjolnir's shields died for the first time in Black Mesa, luckily as soon as the last Headcrab also died. John was relieved that Dyson wasn't able to see it happen.

_I can't let civilians see me like this,_ the Chief thought. _I'm probably the only thing left holding their mental health together.

* * *

_

Date: September 29, 2552

The alien grass crunched beneath Gordon's feet. Just a stone's throw away, he could see a platoon of Covenant forces checking the derelict lifeboat. He ran as swiftly and silently as he could away from the crash site.

"I think it's better if we avoid the Covenant patrol altogether," Cortana radioed to Gordon. "I don't know about you, but I'm sure you're no Spartan."

Gordon shrugged. Spartan? He thought. If Cortana was talking about the Ionians, of course Gordon wasn't a warrior. Not quite anyway. He was closer to Athenian in knowledge (Doctor of Theoretical Physics at age 27) and athletics (agile and swift). But what did Cortana really mean about 'Spartan'?

* * *

A steady-growing and satisfying hum buzzed into the Master Chief's ears, telling him his shields were back online. He let out a silent sigh. He didn't want Dr. Poincare to know that Spartans were, at the very least, vulnerable to anything. Even the soldiers of the UNSC, the men he left behind, didn't know. This secret kept the Marines' morale high enough to beat the Covenant threats even through impossible odds, and he hoped it would still work for the scientists and guards in Black Mesa.

John started to trace Dyson's footsteps. He eventually found himself in front of a broken walkway, hanging above some sewers. He tried to step on one some of the debris, testing whether it could hold his weight. Most of the bridge ended up collapsing a floor below; it couldn't support a ton of Spartan.

Suddenly, Master Chief's HUD told him something was wrong. His ears caught the sound of a human growl, far from that of a Headcrab zombie's. It was Dyson's, and the growl quickly turned into a yelp.

_He's in trouble,_ thought the Master Chief. _I better move fast._

But there was only one thing blocking his way, the gap between them: the broken bridge.

* * *

As Gordon slowly walked away from the lifeboat, away from the horde of Covenant, walking beside some boulders near a steep, 300 foot cliff face, a faint but sharp screaming sound entered his ears.

"Hide behind those rocks!" Cortana ordered Freeman. "Covenant ship patrol incoming." Gordon then jumped behind the boulders and waited.

As the screams came closer, Gordon caught a glimpse of the source; two small ships (albeit large enough to carry an Elite lying on its belly) joined the Covenant footmen in the search for human survivors.

The screams simmered down to a whisper. Gordon thought that the screaming banshees were gone, but a whirring blue bolt that hummed by and almost grazing his hears told him otherwise.

"Run like hell!!" Cortana ordered as Gordon suppressed a curse from his lips. More Banshee strafing fire razed the grass where Gordon was moments ago.

Freeman decided that wearing an orange Hazard Suit wasn't really the best camouflage within a green background. He ran up another hill, finding yet another Covenant patrol roaming these slopes. They were alerted just after the Banshee strafing runs, and all the aliens set their sights on the human in the middle of the hill, blasting plasma at him as they saw fit. Gordon did his best to mow down the Grunts in his way and dodging the Elites' shots. Nothing managed to touch him so far except for air and dirt.

Gordon managed to grab a few small blue orbs from the fallen Grunts. He thought these might be grenades of some sort. He continued sprinting toward the hilltop.

Reaching a small depression that led to a valley, Gordon dove right in and rolled most ungraciously. The grass softened his fall, but he still felt a few lumps bruising his back, even though the gravity on the ring was drastically less than on Earth.

Running down the valley, it took him a while to realize that the aliens behind him stopped shooting.

"Odd," Cortana said. "Covenant are usually hell-bent on killing humans. I wonder why they let you off the hook."

"It's probably a good thing I have you around," she said to Gordon. "Otherwise, Earth would be a lost cause by now."

* * *

John went the farthest he can go away from the gap, meeting a wall. He turned around and planted his right heel firmly on the metal barrier, his left toe analogues dug into the floor, one knuckle on the floor as well, and one hand gripping the shotgun. With a start, he sprinted across the solid floor, leaving a two-inch indent on the wall behind him. He jumped the gap, landing as graceful as a swan, almost disguising how heavy he actually was.

The force of the landing further degraded the bridge debris and the rest fell down into the waters below, scratching a Bullsquid eating some Headcrabs from the lower floors.

John ran through narrow metal hallways, eventually reaching an office complex.

_I probably went through some maintenance walkways,_ the Master Chief thought, not wasting too much time on thinking. Dyson was still in danger, and this threat seemed larger than the rest they have encountered so far.

He didn't have to look too far, as another scientist (preoccupied with his own Headcrab problem, thankfully protected, not-thankfully by a series of live wires), told him where Dyson had been. The Chief gladly wasted one more shotgun buck for the lost scientist.

After crawling through a series of vents, electrically-charged water and a Headcrab or two, the Chief eventually reached a lobby, finding a dead Black Mesa guard. His clothes were partially charred, as if a fork of lightning hit him from somewhere in the building. John acted fast; he knew that this may be a new threat.

As Master Chief walked through numerous hallways, passing by vending machines and food dispensers, he eventually found a lone scientist, cornered by four green humanoid aliens, their arms and legs limp and fragile-looking.

"John!" the scientist cried out. "Help me out here."

The aliens left Dyson alone for a while, setting their sights on the Master Chief. Seeing him as a threat, they started walking slowly towards him.

_Two bucks left,_ John thought. _I have to make these shots count._

John strafed the aliens, seeing that they were unarmed. But what they did next caught him off guard; they started sucking the electricity from their surroundings. The lights grew a bit dim, in the corner of the Chief's eye, he saw a vending machine die out, and some of the electricity jumped onto the walls and burnt the paper.

John tried to roll away from the shots he anticipated, but the lightning was just too fast. Four green surging bolts hit him straight in the chest.

John felt slightly numbed from the first barrage; the electricity partially reached his body. He was hearing the beeping noise form earlier, telling him his shields had died again, but this time some damage actually got through.

The Master Chief did not hesitate to shoot the aliens this time. Just as the four were charging up, John fired a buck on one, toppling and taking down one behind him. He tackled another one, almost impaling it with the barrel of the Spas. As he attempted to knock two other bodies together, he pulled the trigger, taking both aliens down.

Seeing one alien writhing over the weight of its companion, Dyson went near and shot it in its huge eye.

"Thanks a bunch, John," he said, stretching his shoulders a bit. "I was feeling kinda cramped back there."

The Chief did a short autopsy, just examining the corpses where he can see them.

They had 5 limbs, two arms and legs and a third arm on their chest. It seemed that they had only one eye, but at closer inspection, John saw that it had seven more surrounding the large main eye. On its arms and legs were things that resembled chains.

"Alien slaves?" John asked aloud, his gnarled voice making Dyson flinch, the latter still being unaccustomed to it. "I wonder what caught them."

"It doesn't really matter now," Poincare said. "They were hostile, and I was about to get toasted."

"But more importantly," Poincare added, "Why do you have to keep even just a sliver of info from me?"

"What're you talking about?" The Chief asked.

"Your shields," Dyson said. "You never told me your shields could die. You should've told me. I trust you, you know."

"In the midst of this catastrophe," John retaliated, "I thought it was best if I kept that a secret."

"Come on!" Dyson rebutted. "Nobody has perfect technology. I don't believe that even in the future, they found some new tech to make people immortal. Why would they even create your UNSC if you were invincible? I even know you have some sort of motion tracker in that suit. How you acted on the top of the lift screamed 'motion tracker'."

The Chief smirked. _This civilian is smarter than I thought. Theoretical physics major, plus he can analyze situations on the fly._

"Fine," John eventually declared. "You win. I'll tell you about anything you can ask about, as long as it isn't top secret."

"Great!" Dyson said. "We're a team, then?"

_Team._ The word rang in John's ears, remembering the heroes and brothers that he left behind: the rest of the Spartans.

"We're a team."

"Good, then," Poincare said. "Now, how do you make a space ship jump to slip space?"

A hearty laugh escaped from John's helmet. "This might take a while," he said with a smile on his face.

"Doesn't matter," Dyson said, stroking his beard. "We have a long way to go if we want out of this place."

* * *

Somewhere behind the valley walls, Gordon could hear another firefight ensuing. Screaming plasma bolts were heard first, followed by assault rifle gunfire.

"Those must be survivors," Cortana told Gordon. "We better hurry. They sound like they need some help."

Making the turn, Gordon saw that there were Marines entrenched in an alien structure. The whole building looked like some sort of beacon, launching flares once in a while into the atmosphere. In front of the Marines and right between them and Gordon, Covenant landing forces were exchanging fire. The Covies were too busy facing the Marines, and Gordon knew that this was a great opportunity to flank the enemy.

This was a great time to test out the new grenades he found. Taking them out, he fumbled and wondered on how to activate the blue orbs. Finding a small button, he decided that this was the pin-analogue he was looking for. He pressed it and threw it right onto a Grunt's head.

To Freeman's surprise, the plasma grenade stuck. The unsuspecting Grunt screamed as the hot plasma melted his skin into sticky goo. It couldn't remove the grenade, so it panicked and ran towards its squad mates. One Elite growled out an order, but the hapless Grunt continued its approach. Seconds later, a methane and plasma explosion occurred, sending about five Covenant to kingdom come.

SSgt. Fritzgrald's eyes widened as he saw the man in Orange flank the Covenant.

"Reinforcements," the sergeant declared. "Men, our ranks just got a bit tougher."

"Oorah!" yelled a few Marines in chorus. The rest were too busy shooting.

The Covenant troops soon noticed that they were being backstabbed, so one red Elite commander ordered some Grunts and one blue Elite to take care of the Orange Man.

Gordon threw yet another plasma grenade at the small squad, missing the Elite by inches. It warbled worriedly, jumped to the side in an attempt to dodge the explosion.

The blast partially covered the Elite in dirt and debris, some of the small rock fragments impaling a Grunt in the neck, its methane tank leaking.

A few assault rifle bursts and grenade explosions later, the alien structure was devoid of Covenant life.

"Dr. Freeman," SSgt. Fritzgrald called. "Are we glad to see you."

"Likewise," said Cortana from the radio.

"Ma'am, thank goodness you came along. We landed near this structure and ended up with a Covenant welcoming committee. Without Dr. Freeman, we would've been goners by now."

"No need for thanks sergeant," Cortana said. "We're here to do our job."

"Sir," a Marine reported over the comm. "We've got multiple bogeys incoming. Bandits are coming in from all sides."

"I guess resting would have to wait," Cortana said. "We better secure the area before heading on out."

Gordon didn't mind. It felt nice to have a few men beside him, fighting along the lines against the Covenant.

* * *

**Hidden Mantis: **And so ends another chapter of Freeman Evolved.

Merry Christmas and a Happy Hanukah to all the readers.

"_Your shields," Dyson said. "You never told me your shields could die."  
"Cuz if th3y didn7, 7h3y'd be H4x," said the Chief._

"_Run like hell!!" Cortana ordered as she and Gordon ran out the derelict warehouse, tripping over their own feet as they attempted to run away from the lone Witch, pissed off by John's flashlight.  
"Z0mg w17cH!" John yelled, shutting the door on Cortana and Gordon._

Fact: Things transported by car are called "shipments", while containers transported by ships are called "cargo". Ironic, eh?


	8. Darkness

Legal disclaimer:

I do not own Sierra, Valve, Half-life, Bungie, Gearbox, Microsoft and/or Halo and other related companies whatsoever.

**Hidden Mantis: **That last bit in the last chapter was temporary. I probably wouldn't do anything like that anytime soon, unless people want more and post it in the reviews.

And so, a new chapter begins.

* * *

Date: May 17, 2003

The Master Chief had been with Dyson Poincare for quite a while, now. The scientist was probably the longest-lived of all the humans he encountered in Black Mesa so far. Maybe it was because of his small amount of military training. Maybe it was because he had the guts to stick with John-117. Or maybe it was because he was lucky.

"We're still far from getting out of this hellhole," Dyson said, walking through the halls of Black Mesa's office complex. "Knowing Black Mesa protocol, I'd say the elevators are down. I'm pretty sure not one of my colleagues has the guts to climb 10 stories high in an elevator shaft. But I would."

"Brains _and_ guts," John replied. "If you were taller, you'd probably be a great Spartan."

"Spartans, always the Spartans. Why can't everybody be Spartans?"

"Classified info, friend," John said. "You know I can't blab."

"Why? Worried you might make a time paradox if you told me?" Dyson asked playfully.

"Not really. But just to be safe, I won't tell you," John replied.

"Alright, if you say so."

The duo eventually reached a locked double doorway, the door windows showing a hallway, another door to the left and at the end of the hallway, some elevator doors.

"It looks like this is our way out," said Dyson.

"I'll bust the doors open," said the Master Chief.

"Don't!" Dyson reacted. "Sometimes, it's best if we don't use brute force.

"Like say –," he continued, looking above the doorway, "A ventilation shaft. We'll crawl through that, and we won't need to bust open any doors, okay?"

"I guess that would work," John said.

Poincare went around finding a few wooden boxes and a couch to act as leverage to reach the vent. The Master Chief didn't need them; he could just jump up and reach for the vent.

"You go first, I guess," said Dyson. "You have the shields."

John didn't have any qualms about taking point. In the darkness of the vent, he turned on his helmet lights, having no trouble seeing what's ahead. He was ready for any small threat to come their way. Headcrabs were sometimes known to stay in dark ventilation shafts.

"Do you see anything ahead?" Poincare asked.

"There's a faint glow ahead," John said. "I think it's the elevator shaft you were talking about."

Suddenly, the vents under the Chief crashed under his weight. Bits of aluminum vent, slivers of wood and one disoriented Spartan fell down on the hallway. Somewhere in front of the debris, the green electricity from before suddenly jumped out of nowhere, singeing some carpets and burning the elevator doors ahead. One Alien Slave appeared from the surge.

"Not these guys again," muttered John, bracing for one arc of lightning the alien aimed at him. But the electricity never reached him; a gunshot was heard in the shafts above him.

Dyson saved John with one shot in the Slave's eye, but the alien toppling resulted in the misfire right into the ventilation shaft where Poincare was in. The volts dissipated as it ran along the metal, but some of it still met the scientist. A light tingling sensation ran through his legs.

The combined stress of the age, heat and movement in the vent resulted in it collapsing once again, leaving Dyson covered in splinters and steel on the hall floor.

"Ow," he said, rubbing his glutes and legs. "That hurt."

"So we didn't need to pry those doors open, huh?" John asked as he stood, the sarcasm gnarling his voice even more.

"Fine," Poincare replied, still rubbing his ass. "You won."

* * *

Date: September 29, 2552

"Well played, Dr. Freeman," Cortana said over the radio. "You saved most of the crew from death and injury."

Gordon couldn't help but get a bit sad over the lives that were lost during the moments he and the other Marines were defending the alien outpost. One Marine exploded during the fight; an Elite with a gun shooting crystalline bullets impaled him with explosive ammo, the resulting blast disintegrated his whole body. A crewmember's face was melted by an Elite's plasma rifle. Another Marine was killed by a new alien Gordon had never seen before: Jackals, Cortana called them.

They carried plasma shields on their right arm and carried their weapons, plasma pistols, on their left. Their long snouts, closely resembling beaks, had a lot of small sharp teeth protruding from them, almost resembling thin crocodile mouths. They looked more like birds than beasts.

All of that was a while ago. Gordon was now spraying the last few bullets in his MA5B on the shields of one Jackal. Bouncing around with the gun's recoil, its shields died shortly afterwards, letting a few slugs enter its weak frame.

The rest of the Marines were cleaning up in their area. As soon as the last of the Covenant were K.I.A., the crewmembers entrenched in the alien structure breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's the last of them," Cortana declared. "I guess our job here is done. We'll just have to wait for –."

"This is Pelican Echo 419," said a woman's voice over the comm. "Anybody readin' me? Repeat, any UNSC personnel respond."

"Roger, Echo 419," Cortana replied over the radio. "This is Fire Team Charlie. We read you five by five. Is that you Foehammer?"

"Roger Fire Team Charlie," replied Foehammer. "Good to hear from ya'."

"Foehammer, we need transportation to the command shuttle."

Gordon pondered over Cortana's last statement. If the UNSC already had a command station on the ring, they had to be really organized. As expected of a military group.

Suddenly, a loud rushing sound was heard above them. Gordon half-expected it to be the "Pelican" he had only just heard of, but it was another lifeboat. And another. And still another; they were falling in handfuls. There were five all in all, which meant more Marines and UNSC personnel needing saving.

"If those lifeboats make it down, the Covenant are going to be right on top of them," Cortana said over Gordon's radio. He knew this meant risking his skin again, but if it was for the best, he'd do it.

Soon, Freeman eventually glimpsed the Pelican for the first time. It was large and bulky. It had short wings that boasted thrusters, letting Gordon know that it was a VTOL aircraft. It looked like it was almost impossible for it to fly, but then Gordon remembered about the Lifting Body propulsion design, which also meant that it could fly really fast. It made more sense that way. Underneath the Pelican, a jeep with a minigun and shielding on its back were strapped on.

"Some change of plans, Foehammer, we need you to disengage your Warthog," Cortana said to E419. "The Doctor and I will see if we can save some soldiers."

"Roger, Cortana," Foehammer replied.

The Pelican hovered ten feet off the ground just before releasing the jeep. The Warthog fell, bounced two feet in the air and landed safely. Gordon contemplated on the suspension, as it handled the fall really well.

"Okay Charlie Team, Warthog deployed. Saddle up and give them hell."

"Roger, Foehammer. Standby to evac survivors and transport them to safety."

"That's affirmative. Echo 419 staying on station. Foehammer out."

"We need some backup, men," Cortana told SSgt. Fritzgrald. "Can you spare us a few men?"

"You heard the lady," the staff sergeant said. "Noval! Fujimori! You guys join their escapade."  
"Yes sir!" said both privates in unison.

* * *

The Chief and Dyson walked towards the closed elevator shaft. This time, John actually pried the doors open and Dyson didn't retaliate.

Right in front of them, the shaft was devoid of any life except for –.

"Help!" shouted a scientist somewhere in the shaft above them. "I can't hold on much longer!"

"I'll be right there!" Dyson yelled, wishing to save the unseen soul. "Just hold on!"

_The poor guy doesn't have much of a choice, though,_ John thought.

Right in front of them was a ladder on the other side of the shaft. It was just reachable if a human jumped to the other side, but then the danger of falling thirty stories below was a threat.

Unafraid, Dyson said, "I'll go first."

John knew it was probably best. If he'd go first, the ladder would probably collapse under the combined weight of the two.

Dyson's palms were sweaty. He had to save that scientist up there who was literally hanging on to dear life, and he had to manage the jump to the other side carefully as well.

The Master Chief gave some space for Poincare to run through the hallway. Not wasting time, Dyson sprinted towards the unknown, grasping for the ladder in the darkness.

* * *

"You know how to drive, doc?" Cortana asked Gordon.

Gordon just kept quiet, got in and stared at the Warthog's steering wheel, dashboard and transmission. It wasn't the same design as the 'old' cars he was used to, but at least the design for this manual transmission off-road vehicle wasn't far from it.

The Warthog jolted to a start, almost launching the three men in the air.

"Woah there, Nelly!" Noval, the one on the turret, shouted, a bit excited. Fujimori just kept quiet, his face almost expressionless.

"Wow, doc," Cortana said, a little nervousness hinted in her voice. "Should you let one of the Marines drive instead?"

Keeping his silence and his cool, Gordon started the engine up again, revving it up and moving the Warthog without any rough bumps.

"Uhh…" Cortana started. "I guess that's a no." Gordon almost thought he could feel her smiling inside her radio. Maybe it was the way she spoke.

Gordon sped up and over a hill, giving the Warthog some airtime. The Halo's decreased gravity gave it a lot of height that it would normally have if it were on Earth. Private Noval shouted a happy "Woohoo!", while Fujimori still kept quiet, but a faint smile was etched into his face.

A couple of hills later and with Noval quieting down, the jeep reached a depression that lead to a large and odd cave mouth. It was obviously built by someone, as the cave was too straight to be a natural formation.

Fumbling with the headlights, Gordon drove right into the cave, as it seemed like this was the only path towards the rest of the survivors.

While Gordon was swerving through some curves, his breast radio suddenly picked up some static.

"I've hacked into the Covenant battle network," Cortana said. "They're actually broadcasting tactical data on unencrypted channels… We should show them who they're dealing with."

As expected from an advanced AI, Gordon never stopped getting impressed. Getting enemy communications even while underground, it was quite a feat.

Further through the tunnel, Gordon saw a gap just after a ramp. He casually made the Warthog jump over it (Noval yelled with joy). Whoever designed this tunnel sure had no thoughts of safety, he thought. Maybe it was because some advanced alien civilization used to be there, and their vehicles floated? Who knew? Gordon stopped wondering and kept his eyes squinted through the blinding darkness.

* * *

Dyson leapt for the ladder. Grabbing the lowest limb with one hand, he slipped with the other. Hanging on for dear life, he didn't dare look down, but seeing the scientist above him, on another ladder opposite of the first one, hanging on as well, he almost wished he did.

Gathering all his strength, he pulled himself up, his legs flailing around like a frog's.

"Oh God! I'm losing my grip!" the scientist yelled. Tears were welling up in his eyes.

"I'll be there in a jiff. Just wait a few more seconds!"

Dyson sped up his ascent, reaching the upper floor and a narrow metal strip that acted as a foothold.

Gaining some balance and acting quickly, Dyson leaned his heels against the wall just as the scientist's grip finally gave way.

"Aaaaaaaagh!" he yelled in fear.

Poincare jumped right for the scientist in mid-air, the former's right hand meeting the latter's. The collision caused them to whirl out of control, Dyson almost losing grip of the second ladder.

The scientist, already worn out, slipped from Poincare's grip and continued his cry for help. As he fell, he spun uncontrollably and hit his head on a metal beam somewhere in the lower floors. His screams suddenly stopped, and a loud 'THUNK' was later heard from below.

Dyson breathed heavily; sweat was dripping all over his body. He felt bad for himself that he couldn't help just one soul.

John saw everything from the elevator doors. He started pondering over whether he was blessed to have the certain genetic makeup to become a Spartan, giving him the ability to save more lives than regular people, or cursed since he, too, couldn't save his Spartan brothers back at Reach.

The Master Chief leapt toward the ladder, as graceful as a swan and as bulky as a tank. Parts of the ladder promptly bent under his weight.

Suddenly, the steel that the Chief was holding gave way. Dyson gasped, but was relieved after knowing that John dug his fingers into the metal wall.

John and Dyson eventually made it all the way to the highest floor, near the railways, as Dyson recalled. They were so close to the surface.

Resting a bit, Dyson suddenly said "It couldn't be helped."

The Chief turned to him and said, "It's things like these that make you stronger. Because you were unable to do something in the past, it only makes you want to do better in the future. Sometimes we have to make sacrifices.

"This moment shouldn't be looked back on, but it should be remembered to inspire you to be better from now on."

"Right…"Dyson said back, still dumbstruck from a colleague's death.

* * *

As Gordon drove on, the jeep eventually reached a decline that opened up to a room large enough to be the _Autumn's_ engine room.

Enveloped in shadows, a few squads of Covenant were roving the corners. They moved like they were looking for something.

"Hostiles up ahead," Noval said while revving up the chain gun. Fujimori was already taking aim with his assault rifle, making sure the Covies didn't know what hit them.

A patrolling Jackal turned around just in time to find the Warthog's bumper zooming into its skull.

While Gordon was ramming into more Covenant troops, bullets were flying from the Warthog. It took a while before the Elites could notice the jeep, returning some plasma fire of their own.

Gordon drove the Warthog into a half J-turn skidding halt, jumped out, jeep as cover and started firing. Fujimori landed all his shots on stray Grunts' heads that peeked their heads out of their hidey holes, While Noval saturated the air with lead. His .50 caliber shots tore chunks of metal off the cave's walls.

Clearing the large room of Covenant, Gordon decided it was safe to look survey the area, the two privates still seated in the Warthog. Where the road they were traveling ended, two short metal beams stuck out. Below was a deep, dark chasm.

"There must be some mechanism to cross this chasm," Cortana thought out. "Look for a control panel or switch."

Gordon walked a few yards back to the Warthog when he saw a narrow passageway, probably leading to the switch.

As he walked up the ramp, he let his guard down and met a red Elite face to face, the alien posing ready to strike at him. It tried to whack him with its Plasma Rifle, but Gordon ducked right in time. Moving for a counter-attack, he grabbed his crowbar and flung it upward, the dull end smacking right into its head, the lower jaws parting and hitting its upper jaw. It dropped the plasma gun and grabbed its mouth in pain. Gordon quickly whipped out his pistol and shot it in the head, the slug killing its shields and burying itself shallowly in one eye.

"If I had eyes, they would've been wide open," Cortana quipped in a nervous tone. "When we get to a basecamp, we're gonna get you a motion tracker."

Heart pounding but seeing the relative calmness of the area, Gordon continued walking through the unguarded pathway. It inevitably led to a control panel made of light.

"So, how are we gonna activate this thing?" Cortana asked.

Out of pure instinct, Gordon touched the panel with an open palm. To his surprise, the lights on the panel started moving and the beams in the chasm below extended to their maximum telescopic length, emitting what looked like a bridge made of light right above them.

"Uhh, that works, too, I guess."

Going back down, Gordon went to check on the light bridge first. To test its solidness, he shot one pistol round into it. The bullet looked like it made an imprint, but the light bridge continued to emit its smooth path. Then, he hit it with his crowbar. Again, it made an indent in the bridge, but the dent disappeared as soon as it was made. Finally, he took a step of faith. It felt solid below him, ripples of light streaming away from his boot.

"Is it safe, sir?" Noval yelled from the jeep.

Gordon didn't bother to reply. He walked back to the Warthog, started its engines and ran full speed across the bridge. Ripples of light were trailing behind them.

"I don't feel right," Noval muttered. "Its like we're flying, falling _and _driving at the same time."

Fujimori just kept on smiling.


	9. Updates: I'm not dead

Holy freaking balls. You people are still following this story after years?

Hot damn. I'm touched.

Okay, okay. I have a lot of work to do. I apologize immensely for stopping my writing. Now that I've gotten some inspiration back, expect to see more of Gordon and John. Soon.

Hidden Mantis


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